Intel India earns chance at Xeon redemption

Second multi-core project begins

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A botched attempt at creating a new Xeon processor won't slow Intel India down, according to a local report. Intel has its Indian designers creating a new multi-core Xeon chip.

Intel India has been blamed for the failed Whitefield project. The four-core chip promised to be Intel's most sophisticated Xeon product to date, boasting a high-speed interconnect called CSI capable of competing against AMD's Hypertransport technology found on Opteron. Whitefield was the first major Intel processor design project to take place in India and got its name from an IT-rich township on the edge of Bangalore. Despite the past failures, Intel is ready to give its Indian engineers a second chance.

"More or less all the people in the Whitefield project will be reassigned to this (new project)," Intel Technology India director RK Amar Babu told The Times of India.

Babu declined to reveal the code-name of the Xeon project or to provide any specifications about the processor.

Srinivas Raman, Intel's former general manager at Intel India, led the Whitefield development but left Intel for Cadence when the project was nixed. The Whitefield debacle raised many questions about Intel India's ability to serve as a contributor to Intel's most significant projects.

Babu stressed that the new Xeon effort shows Intel's faith in the region in his interview with the Times.